Stressed Home Buying Employees Stressin' You Out? How Employment Verification Can Help

The National Association of Realtors' recently published a study that found that millennials were the largest group of homebuyers for the fourth consecutive year.

This means some of your employees are likely buying homes, leading to exciting, yet stressful times. In fact, in the 1960’s, two scientists, Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe created a stress inventory that linked point values to various stressful events which included taking on a mortgage. The higher the point total, the greater a chance that an individual would experience illnesses according to the many studies that have confirmed the original results. According to the inventory, taking on a mortgage creates just under half the stress point totals as going to jail or getting a divorce. Yikes!

So what can you do as an employer to reduce the stress involved with the home buying process for your employees? Here are a few tips that you may find helpful:

Consider Starting a Financial Literacy Program for Your Employees

An increasing number of employers are initiating financial literacy programs for their employees. Per the article, 82% of queried employers offered lunch-and-learn type programs with financially-related topics such as debt management, mortgages and student loans.

Make Stress Your Friend

Several years ago, psychologist Kelly McGonigal presented a Ted talk where she posited that there’s an upside to stress. She noted the 2012 study completed by University of Wisconsin-Madison scientists that in effect said that the perception that stress is bad may itself be the cause of health issues. In other words, perception is reality so changing the perception that stress is harmful can itself keep stress from being harmful, and may even make it helpful.

Part of the reason that home buying is a stressful experience begins with the mortgage application and approval process. After completing a mountain of digital and/or paper forms, employees are left waiting for what can seem like an eternity to find out when their mortgage will close. Having an automated employee-centric employment verification process benefits all involved properties. Verifiers such as banks are able to instantly confirm employment information so the mortgage can close quickly, while employees are able to determine exactly when verifiers completed their employment verification. Employers, meanwhile, are able to focus on other critical areas of business in lieu of managing the employment verification process.

With decades of experience in employment verification, we offer employers a free employment verification service to help make your life stress-free. For more information, please contact i2Verify here.